War in the Vendée

The War in the Vendee was an uprising against the French First Republic by the local counter-revolutionary French Royalists in a region of western France. Following the overthrow of the House of Bourbon during the French Revolution, the residents of the strongly Catholic and royalist Vendee region opposed the republicans. The measures taken by the First Republic enraged the people there and caused them to take up arms against the Revolution as the Catholic and Royal Army.

The War
By March 1793, active riots had begun against the revolutionary government throughout the Vendee and the insurgents, led by local clergy and nobility, began a rebellion. It was in response to conscription into the French Army. The rebels took advantage of their knowledge of the territory and the sympathies of the populace, forming the Catholic Army ("Royal" was added later). Many were initially put down by the government, but several of the riots became more severe and soon several hundred "patriots", officials of the French National Guard, had been murdered. The Republic responded quickly and dispatched 45,000 troops to the area, with the first battle taking place on March 19. A column of 2000 republicans was defeated by rebels after six hours of fighting.

Throughout early May, Henri de la Rochejaquelein led royalist forces in occupying a number of key towns. In June the royalists captured the town of Saumur, during which 50 cannons fell into their control, and that was the high point of the insurgency. The next month, however, the royalists suffered one of their first defeats at the hands of Jean-Baptiste Kleber. Another battle at Lucon, over the course of four weeks from August to September, led to the defeat of Louis d'Elbee's forces. By the winter months of 1793 the royalists had been largely wiped up by the Republican army. In October, the main force under Rochejaquelein made its way to the port of Granville, expecting to be greeted by returning exiled French nobles and the British Royal Navy, only to be greeted by a large Republican garrison. They defeated the royalists' attempt to take the city and preyed on their columns as they retreated. After that, the insurgency was effectively over.